BS Bedi - BS Chandrasekhar - EAS Prasanna (1967-1978)
Bedi took 266 wickets in 67 Tests at an average of 29 (overseas average 34). Averaged 18 in winning Tests (17) and 26 in winning Tests abroad (8).
Chandrasekhar took 242 wickets in 58 Tests at an average of 30 (overseas average 33). Averaged 19 in winning Tests (14) and 17 in winning Tests abroad (5).
Prasanna took 189 wickets in 49 Tests at an average of 30 (overseas average 34). Averaged 18 in winning Tests (17) and 16 in winning Tests abroad (7).
The three came together in January 1967. Before that, Prasanna had played 2 Tests in 1962 (then left to focus on his Engineering degree full-time!) Chandrasekhar had played 10 Tests between 1964 and 1966. Bedi played just one Test in 1966.
Playing abroad, the average goes down to 37, though in matches won abroad, it is 23.
Between them they had 40 five wicket hauls.
During their reign, India's bowling average as a team was 32, significant considering this figure also supports a weak seamer and 5th bowler.
In matches India won during the trio's reign, India's bowling average is 21.
63% of the wickets India took in the period they played together were taken by them.This comes to a stunning 13 out of every 20 wickets.
Bedi also captained India in 22 matches (won 6, lost 11, drew 5), averaging 25 with the ball as captain (106 wickets).
Prasanna played his last match in October 1978 (Pakistan). Chandrasekhar and Bedi in July/ August 1979 (England).
Despite some fine individual talent in its ranks (sometimes even world-class ability), somehow Indian cricket teams were unable to perform consistently in the first 39 years of their Test history. Occasional wins used to be followed by heavy losses, and series wins were a rarity. It all changed in 1971 - when India won its first away series in West Indies. Then, in England a few months later. And again next year at home against England. Gavaskar and Viswanath had established themselves in the batting and a posse of spinners in the bowling - Bedi, Chandrasekhar, Prasanna and Venkatraghavan. With them India broke convention and breached the confines of traditional cricketing wisdom - despite still having no fast bowlers, they still became competitive all around the world.
Three of these four would always play in the team (Prasanna and Venkat - both being off-spinners, usually inter-changeable). Most of the great moments in Indian cricket in 1970s came because of the contributions from the trio (more often the three this piece is about). Bedi was the pivot (with the combination changing shape around him) - a classic leg spinner with loop and flight, always attacking, always looking for wickets. Prasanna had the same spirit but operated in the opposite direction - a traditional off-spinner, who liked to beat batsmen in flight, bowling them through the gate or taking a caught-and-bowled (he actually looked down on getting batsmen caught at short leg). Chandrasekhar was the enigma amongst them - from a polio-stricken right hand (with which he couldn't even throw) emanated pacy wrist spinners with a mind of their own - it is said even the bowler was never sure what was coming out next. Their constant attacking also leaked runs (which explains their relatively un-awesome averages overall) but together, this axis-of-guile accounted for 620 wickets in the 12 years they played together and gave Indian cricket a self-respect that would resonate for many years after them. Spin bowling, in one fell swoop, became synonymously associated with India - for decades thereafter. Their end came strangely together too, with its roots in the Pakistan tour of 1978, when their batsmen led by Zaheer Abbas, used their feet and attacked them consistently.
Both Bedi and Chandrasekhar lost their confidence and were pale shadows of themselves thereafter. Prasanna's old-school ways were thwarted by something even more interesting - the use of pads as a first line of defence by the batsmen (the technique was just coming into the game) - he just couldn't adjust to it. Ironically, this Pakistan tour was also the debut series of India's next great giant and its first pace bowling hero - Kapil Dev. Sad too - the lack of support from a quality quick bowler had prevented the trio from being bigger match-winners right through their career, especially abroad. But in a way it added to their legend too - as the new ball was thrown right through the 1970s to authentic pie-chuckers (like Gavaskar!) to bowl 2-3 overs and quickly get the shine off, so that the artists could resume their work thereafter. Never before, or since, has Indian cricket seen a bowling unit such as this - achieving and celebrating together (each of them would usually run to the other two gleefully at the fall of a wicket, rather than the captain or the fielder). And never before, or since, has an Indian bowling attack redefined parameters as to what a good score was against their team.
72 wickets in five tests at an average of 21 vs England, India, 1972/73.
| In those days India vs England was fast setting itself up to be a contest worthy of a novel. This series would prove to be a very important chapter of the book. Having beaten England in England, India now played hosts, looking to make it clear that the win was not a fluke, a notion most Englishmen seemed to take comfort in. England took the first Test, and appropriately, Eden Gardens, with 70,000 people in the stands, turned out to be the setting for India's comeback in the second. With the batsmen giving them a neither-here-nor-there score of 210, the spinners spun into action, bowling England out for 174, with no batsman crossing 35. Chandra (5), Bedi |
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(2) and Pras (3) took all 10 wickets. In the second innings India collapsed for 155 but the trio muscled England out again, bowling them out for 162, with Bedi leading the charge and getting 5 wickets, taking their total to 19 wickets in the match - which was more than then number of runs scored by many of the batsmen. By now, the spinners were clearly the bosses in the bowling attack, coming on from the fourth over itself. In the next test, England tried to grab the momentum by winning the toss and batting first, but it was wrested right back by the Indian spinners, who brought them down to their knees at 110 for 7 before bowling them out for 242.When England came in to bat in |
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the second innings, the driver's seat was still within reach - they were only 76 runs behind. But the Indian spinners were in too ruthless a mood to allow any such comebacks, and ran through the Englishmen again for 159, polishing off any attempts of making a match of it. Prasanna took centre-stage this time, the show-piece item being a spell where he took 4 wickets for 6 runs. India went on to draw the next two games, and thus, the spinners had played the lead role in completing a significant home-and-away victory run over England. |
Chandra's 6 for 38 vs England, the Oval 1971.
| Chandrasekhar was responsible for shifting the momentum and run of play to land India one of its most historic and celebrated moments in the game - its first Test victory on English soil. He was supported by Venkat (2 wickets) and Bedi (1 wicket) from the other end. Up until Chandra took the ball and marked his run-up to begin one of the best spells in the history of the game, England looked completely in control, and the game looked ordinary, run of the mill. England had batted well, scoring 355 in the first innings. |
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Under clouds and with raindrops settling in, England took control, and bowled India out to take a 71 run lead. Everything was in readiness for England to come in, set India a stiff target and walk away with the honours, before Chandra came in and blew the best laid plans away. Despite the sluggish wicket, Chandra used his pace and inherent quirky style to completely ravage the English line up with 6 wickets for 38 runs, bowling them out for just 101 (their third-lowest total in almost 30 years). Solkar took |
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two classic catches while Venkat softened the English up at the other end. Bedi came on near the end of the innings to bowl just one over and picked up a wicket. Noting that these heroics had suddenly swung India from the certainty of a regular defeat to the doorstep of history, the batsmen dug their feet in and saw a nervous chase till the end, scoring the required 173 runs and ensured that we will still be talking about this performance in this tone today. |
8 for 182 and 10 for 79 vs Australia, Delhi 1969.
| In terms of drama if not competition, Australia's tour to India in 1969-70 was the early ancestor of the great India-Australia rivalry of this decade. It had a great backdrop, not completely dissimilar to the one that the 2001 series was played in. Australia were a strong, mighty unit with the likes of Lawry, Walters and Chappell in their ranks, they had just beaten West Indies, while India were the weaker side on paper, looking to find their place in the higher echelons of world cricket. It was also host to the great battle between the |
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strong Aussie batsmen, and the Indianspinners who were beginning to establish themselves as a major force in the game. It had stone pelting, rioting and crowd trouble providing spice to the story. This was also Prasanna's day in the sun, with no less than Ian Chappell paying tribute to his skill. The peak of all of this was the 3rd Test in Delhi. Prasanna and Bedi routed the Aussie batting but Chappell stood tall in the ruins and took them to 296. Australia took a lead anyway, bowling India out for 223, and looked set to drive home |
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the advantage when Bedi and Prasanna spun a whirlwind to knock them over. Taking 5 wickets each, they bowled Australia out for 107. The shipwrecked batting line-up had 8 batsmen recording single figure scores. India needed 181 to win from then on, and Wadekar saw the team home. In a series that Australia dominated, Bedi and Prasanna were responsible for providing moments of even competition, and keeping the contest alive till the end. |
Bedi and Chandra's 39 wickets at an average of 28 vs West Indies, West Indies 1976.
| In a series most famous for the 406/4 chase in Port of Spain, the significant role played by the spinners in bringing India very close to drawing the series is sometimes overlooked. This series also saw the catalyst that forged the Indian trio's direct rivals for the tag of the strongest bowling unit in the game's history, the West Indian four pronged pace attack. The West Indies were fielding a mighty batting line up. Under the command of Lloyd and Kallicharran stood Richards, Lawrence |
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Rowe and Fredricks. West Indies took the lead in the first Test, and then came a generally overlooked match that would have been feted and celebrated had numerous chances not gone down. Bedi took 8 wickets for 126 runs, and with support from Chandra who contributed 4 wickets, had almost beaten the West Indies when they got out of jail with a draw. Having secured a 161 run lead in the first innings, India had their opponents down to 215 for 8 before running out of time. The |
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next game India won with the famous record run chase, with Bedi and Chandra playing a useful support act, contributing 13 wickets. The insult of the defeat famously spurred Lloyd on to implement his all-pace-all-fire strategy which the Indians could not withstand in the final Test. The final result was 2-1, and this became one of the lesser known 'what could have been' stories of Indian cricket. |
65 wickets at an average of 26 vs Australia, Australia 1977/78.
| India's tour to Australia came with a dramatic background. The cricket establishment faced a threat from the Packer circus, Australia was playing a depleted side, and it was not sure if the crowds would turn up. Very important questions regarding where the game would go from here would be answered, in some ways, through this series. But in a perfect instance of everything falling into place, the crowds and the players opened trade with each other, the crowds turning up in large numbers and offering their support, and the players paying for it with one brilliant, |
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fantastic test match after another. It was a big hit, with serious credit going to India's spin trio for keeping it competitive. Australia did not have their first choice XI, but they were still competitive with many young names such as Peter Toohey coming to the fore. The first two matches were thrillers that went down to the wire before the Australians swung it their way. Then Bedi, Chandra and Pras stepped in and took complete charge, taking a stunning 34 of the available 40 wickets in the next two games, bowling Australia out once for 164 and once for |
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131, winning the games and dragging the momentum right back into India's side. The story got the blockbuster finish it deserved in the last test, as India chased 493 and came agonizingly close at 445. The series was lost but the honours were almost even, which was not something that could be said of many of India's tours to Australia. This series was one of the trio's final appearances on the international stage, and it was a fine way to open the last lap. |
HONOURABLE MENTION:
10 for 329 and 18 for 264 vs West Indies, Calcutta and Madras 1975.
| India was playing one the world's strongest teams at home and not doing a great job of it. The West Indies side was not yet the formidable winning machine it became in the next few years, but it was a very powerful team, and had a 2-0 lead in the series, having won both games comprehensively. The Indian spinners first helped arrest the slide in Calcutta, and then level the series in Madras with two major efforts that beat back the West Indian forces. In Calcutta, Madan Lal with the ball in the first innings (4 wickets), and Viswanath with the bat in both innings |
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(52 and 139) kept the game alive, and set up an exciting finish with a target of 310. After securing a steady start, Llyod's men lunged at the target, taking the attack to the Indians and looking to blitz them away with sheer aggression. But the spinners managed to quell the storm, and effected a middle order collapse to end the chase at 224. India started badly in the next game at Madras, getting bowled out for 190. But on a helpful pitch with uneven bounce, the Indian spinners were too strong even for the mighty West Indian batting line up. They bowled the West |
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Indies out for 192. Batting solidly in the second innings, India set their opponents 255 to win. Almost as if working to a smooth, pre-arranged pattern, with Bedi and Chandrasekhar having taken limelight in the previous test, Prasanna took the lead here, adding 4 more wickets to his first innings tally of 5. Between the three of them they routed the West Indies, bowling them out for 154, and drawing India level at 2-2, although eventually India did go on to lose 3-2. |
